NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The job market suffered another blow last month, as business hiring dwindled, and the government continued to shed workers.

Overall, the economy lost a total of 95,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department reported Friday, far worse than expected and down from the previous month, when employers shed 57,000 jobs.

But while government cuts, especially related to the end of the 2010 census, have dragged down the overall number for several months, businesses have added jobs for nine months in a row.

Private businesses added 64,000 workers in September, while the government shed 159,000 workers, mostly because of temporary census jobs ending and strapped local government scaling back.

Overall, the jobs number disappointed economists, who were expecting a flat month, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6%. Economists had forecast a slight increase to 9.7%.

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta
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